Storytelling science: why you need a good hero
May 14, 2013A couple of years ago, political scientist Michael Jones published the results of a study in the Policy Studies Journal, on the most effective ways to educate and persuade the public about the threats of climate change. His research clearly demonstrated that when climate information is conveyed in narrative story…
“Go outside!” and other lessons from Mom
May 10, 2013In New Zealand, one of the most well-known and powerful Māori concepts is “Tūrangawaewae”. It is a foundation, a place in the world and the idea that the land where you come from- the mountains and rivers and your own back yard- is inseparable from the person you are today. …
Beyond PR–Raising Our Voice
May 1, 2013What do The Most Amazing Online Organizing Guide Ever, The Range blog at High Country News and a tweet from the UN WOMEN agency have in common? Besides residing in former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens’ “series of tubes,” the answer is the Resource Media connection. We provide a wide range…
A Thousand Welcomes
May 1, 2013When we launched the Visual Story Lab website less than a month ago, all we knew was that we were addressing a need we had seen in our work promoting social change over the last fifteen years. Resource Media is a strategic communications firm, so it is our job to…
Picture Power
April 30, 2013Amid Earth Day events earlier this month, a gathering out in the desert in southeastern Nevada jumped off newsprint and screen with a captivating image. So compelling, in fact, that the Las Vegas Review-Journal ran it large enough to fill the entire above-the-fold space in the paper. It was huge.…
Money talks…right?
April 29, 2013Why talk about intrinsic worth when you can put a price tag on it? The idea of calculating the value of healthy natural systems and factoring that value into land management decisions is taking hold across the world. The idea is that with a better sense of how much these…
Fast and Furious Philanthropy
April 24, 2013If you have a tendency to click on news items that might make you cry, you likely saw that hundreds of sea lions have been washing up- starving- on the shores of Southern California. I possess that tendency as well as some well-worn tear ducts. Within two minutes of reading…
NTC13: Packing Crayons for a Technology Conference
April 23, 2013At 2:29pm on Saturday afternoon, I stood at the podium and looked across the room. All the seats at the tables were filled; people were packed into the corners at the back, and standing in the doorway. Folks actually stayed through to the last possible session slot at the 2013…
Don’t skin cats or throw babies
April 18, 2013When idioms battle messages In a meeting recently, a colleague was making a point and started with “don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.” I cringed. Then I thought about it for the next several minutes, visualized a baby being thrown out the window and cringed a bit more.…
Putting a human face on it
April 15, 2013The California-based Community Water Center has spent years trying to shine a spotlight on agriculture runoff and groundwater contamination that has made water undrinkable in the state’s most productive agricultural regions. Yet in a nation where most people believe agriculture is good for the environment, raising awareness of the nuances…
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